House of Hell (book)
|references=400 |authors=Steve Jackson |illustrator=Tim Sell |coverillustrator=Ian Miller |year=November 22 1984 |number=10 |ISBN=ISBN 0-14-031831-3 |prevbookp=Caverns of the Snow Witch |nextbookp=Talisman of Death |wcoverillustrator=Nicholas Halliday |wyear=December 2 2002 |wnumber=7 |wISBN=ISBN 1-84046-417-8 |prevbookw=Crypt of the Sorcerer |nextbookw=Forest of Doom |wizimage= |pufimage= }} House of Hell is a single-player role-playing gamebook written by Steve Jackson, illustrated by Tim Sell and originally published in 1984 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2002. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 10th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-031831-3) and 7th in the modern Wizard series (ISBN 1-84046-417-8). Creation A short version of the adventure was first published in Warlock Magazine Issue 3, and titled The House of Hell. It was made up of 185 references and the adventure was expanded for the final bookThe "Fighting Fantasy News" section of Warlock Magazine Issue 3 however makes it sound like the adventure (and Caverns of the Snow Witch which followed it) was always planned as a gamebook and simply shortened and modified for use in the magazine: They were originally intended to be the next two gamebooks, but we decided to give readers a taste of what was to come by publishing shortened versions in the magazine. The full adventures, which are very different from the Warlock versions – and twice as long – have been completed. . In the process quite a few of the original references were modifiedFrom Warlock Magazine Issue 3 and speaking of the Warlock version: The rooms have been jumbled, there are some cunning secret passages to find and the important clues are in totally different places. Getting through the mini-adventure will not help you at all itself, your death, if and when it occurs, is not necessarily the end of your adventure!. Additions and Alterations Background ''House of Hell is a horror themed book, and the only Fighting Fantasy book set on modern day The only other modern day adventure is the short adventure from Warlock Magazine Issue 13 Temple of the Pharaoh.. The player's car breaks down during a rain storm, forcing the player to seek shelter in a nearby mansion. Though this is the only Fighting Fantasy book to employ this type of setting, books such as Beneath Nightmare Castle use the horror theme in the more common fantasy setting of Titan. The player's quest to escape the mansion is hampered by the presence of -worshippers and various demons, though not all are entirely hostile. Much of the gameplay involves searching a series of rooms, most of which bears an obscure religious or satanic titles, including the Shaitan Room and the Mammon room. If the reader is to be successful, they must survive an encounter with the house's Master. How to Survive the House of Hell / Hints on Play The book in general follows the original rules set down in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (see Game System). Unique Rules *''House of Hell'' uses a fear score in addition to the usual scores. Every time the player encounters some particularly disturbing event, they must add between 1 and 3 fear points to the total fear score. Once the character reaches the maximum score, determined at the beginning of the game, they will quite literally die of fright. *As the book is set on modern day Earth, the reader is unarmed at the start of the book and suffers a skill penalty of 3 points until they find a weapon. Equipment List The player begins with no equipment or Provisions. Cover and Illustrations Covers The original cover of the book was designed and illustrated by Ian Miller. When the book was republished by Wizard the cover was once again re-worked, this time by Nicholas Halliday. #Price of 1st~2nd Impressions; £1.95 for 7th Impression #Price of 12th Impression Illustrations The interior illustrations were by Tim Sell. The original edition of the book (and the Warlock version as wellWarlock Magazine Issue 3, page 44 (reference 142)) contains an illustration that was removed from subsequent printings. The illustration in question accompanied paragraph 264 and depicted a naked woman (with "artfully" arranged coverage) on an altar with blood on it. The result of the removal of the illustration was that paragraphs 255 through to 263 had to be moved about and spaced by additional minor pictures. Intertextual References Other Media Main Characters YOU: Hero of House of Hell *Earl of Drummer Locations Encounters Further Notes *The US version of the book, published by Dell/Laurel-Leaf, was titled House of Hades as the word "Hell" can be considered a profanity there. Dedication To Helen, Martin and Pam See Also *''Appointment with F.E.A.R.'' *''Creature of Havoc'' *''Fighting Fantasy'' *''Fighting Fantasy - The Introductory Role-playing Game'' *''Sorcery!'' *''Starship Traveller'' *''The Citadel of Chaos'' *''The Riddling Reaver'' *''The Warlock of Firetop Mountain'' External Links *Character Sheet References * * * Official sites: * * Magazines: * House of Hell 10 07